Felix Felicis
by MarauderGirl07
Summary: What happens when the Marauders get their hands on some lucky potion? Mayhem, naturally. NOTE: May contain mild HBP spoilers O.o
1. Love Potions and Melted Gold

**Chapter 1 / Love Potions and Melted Gold**

"Honestly. I still think it's a miracle either of you managed to get an 'Acceptable' on your Potions O.W.L."

Three Gryffindor sixth-year boys were making their way down the dark, dank corridor that led to the even gloomier dungeons below. One was of average height with mousy-colored hair. This boy--Remus Lupin--was looking doubtfully at his two raven-haired friends.

"Oh, lay off, Moony." The taller one with stormy gray eyes retorted. "Honestly, just because we're not bookworms like you and we actually have to work for our grades--"

"Speak for yourself, Sirius." The one with unruly hair and glasses interjected. "I don't have to lift a finger and I make good grades." James Potter commented rather loudly, running his hand through his hair and keeping an eye on the group of girls in front of him.

At this, Remus rolled his eyes. "Where is she?" he said dejectedly. But he didn't have to look long; it was hard to miss Lily Evans' long red hair.

"Go talk to her already." Sirius advised, he too keeping an eye on the group up ahead. "You never know, she might've changed her mind."

"I dunno..." James said doubtfully. He had reason to be unsure, just last week he asked Lily out and she threw a rather powerful Jelly-Legs curse on him and told him not on her life would she ever consider it. On the flip side though, he'd heard through the grapevine (the grapevine being another sixth year Gryffindor girl who was friends with Lily and rather interested in Sirius: Ashton Fitch) that Lily had been acting strangely at the mention of James and had confided that she thought he was deflating his head a bit and that he would make a great friend if she didn't have to fear him asking her out every other day. This had made his day, he still thought about that conversation with a swelled chest, almost a month and a half after it took place.

_"You're absolutely sure she said this? She said she would want to be my friend?" James asked, sounding rather like a kid in a candy store who just won the chance to take home whatever he wanted._

_"I swear on my life. She said it. I wouldn't lie about this." Ash said for what felt like the tenth time, becoming annoyed. "You're missing the important detail. Don't bug her. Don't ask her out every Tuesday. James, if you just laid off and let her come to you..."_

_James nodded enthusiastically, not even listening. "And how did you say she reacts when you guys start talking about me?"_

_"Well, mostly she shuts up, finds somewhere to go, or becomes extremely interested in whatever's closest to her."_

_James frowned. Why wouldn't she ever talk about him? Oh how he longed for the day when he and Lily would be sitting out near the lake, talking and enjoying a lunch together...nobody around to bother them...no Sirius yelling "Prongs! Hey! Look!"_

"Prongs! Hey! Look!"

James shook his head, being brought back from his daydream about Lily to find that he almost walked into the door at the entrance to the dungeon. "Thanks, mate." he said distractedly to Sirius, who just looked at him like he was nuts.

The three boys ambled over to their favorite seats in the back. "We really need to carve our names on this desk." Sirius commented, throwing his bookbag down next to the cauldron.

James nodded, hearing a tut of disapproval from Remus' direction.

"You realize how much trouble we'd be in? Vandalizing school property, I can see Filch's face now."

"Yeah." Sirius replied, a thrilled look flashing across his face. "Old Filch can't get enough of us. You have to admit we keep the poor guy busy. But seriously, we do this, we'll be infamous. Students years from now will see our names, and they'll fight over who gets to sit in our seats. They'll already know about us from our detention record, this'll just be icing on the cake." He pulled out a pocket knife and flipped out one of the blades. "So, who's name first?"

- . -

"Wow..." The little blonde butterball known as Peter Pettigrew gasped. "You mean, you can make love potions?"

Sirius snorted. "How thick are you, anyways? Has anything ever made it into that skull of yours?"

It was several hours after dinner, and all four Marauders were sitting in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, along with mostly fifth through seventh years; all the younger students had gone to bed.

"Hey!" Peter said offensively.

"He's right though." James said, without taking his eyes off of Lily. "Everyone knows you can make love potions. They just don't actually make somebody truly fall in love."

At this Peter looked confused. "But...isn't that the point?"

"What James is trying to say is that once the potion wears off, the taker returns to normal." Remus explained, restraining Sirius from whacking Peter upside the head while muttering nonsense about him not having the capacity to think. "For example, if James gave Lily a love potion, she'd be crazy about him for a set amount of time. But then, after that time ends, she'd go back to rejecting him." Peter nodded understandingly.

A rather loud "Hmph." came from Sirius' direction. "I could make any girl that I want fancy me without one of those stupid potions."

James took his eyes off Lily for a second, and moved them two places down to Ash. He wondered for a second if Sirius knew that whenever he was around she acted like she had been force-fed those potions three times a week since she was born, but then decided that he really didn't care. He turned his gaze back to Lily, who was laughing about something that Emmaline Vane had said. What he wouldn't give to be sitting over there, next to his dear Lily...

"James!" Remus snapped warningly. "Are you alright, mate?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine..." James replied distantly.

"Anyways, as I was saying." Remus continued. "Professor Slughorn had a rather interesting liquid sitting in a cauldron in the storage room."

"You mean that gold, shiny stuff?" Sirius inquired, not looking or sounding very interested in the topic at hand.

"Yeah...I think it may be a batch of Felix Felicis."

"Felix what?" both James and Sirius asked, confused.

"Felix Felicis. It's liquid luck. You take a drink of it, and you're lucky in every aspect of your day."

This sparked James' interest, and apparently Sirius' too, judging by the matching mischievous looks they shared.

_Lucky...HEY!_ James thought, having an epiphany. _I could take this stuff, then ask Lily out...there'd be no need for any love potions then! Not that I'd put my dear through that._

_A potion that makes you get lucky? Lucky in what, I wonder..._ Sirius thought, a rather sly grin appearing on his face. "Erm, Moony, you said this makes you lucky in _all _aspects of your day?"

_Oh brother. I've created a monster._ Remus thought, nodding his head sadly.

"Hmmm...I'll have to nick me some then, later this week."

"I don't know if you should do that, Padfoot." Peter squeaked. "You don't know what it's made of...it sounds dangerous. I wouldn't drink melted gold no matter how lucky it made me."

A loud BANG! and a sudden yelp came from the center of the room which caused Lily and the other girls to turn. "BLACK! POTTER!" she roared, storming to the four. "What did you do to him now?" she said exasperatedly, pointing to the shaking form of Peter on the floor.

"Taught him a lesson." Sirius said simply, standing up. "Honestly, he was asking for it, it's his fault for being so stupid to not know that love potions exist and that nobody in their right mind would melt gold and say it made you get lucky." he explained, stretching. "Well, anyways. 'Night." he finished, and walked to the boys' dorm, turning and winking at the girls sitting at the table where Lily had been.

The scene he left could not have been more complex. Two girls were staring hopefully at the staircase where Sirius had just been, one had her nose in a book, and two others were chatting animatedly. One girl was glaring at one boy, who was looking back at her with the utmost affection. And finally, one boy shook his head smugly, while one boy laid on the floor lamely, whimpering.

---------

**A/N:** Um derr :D First chapter. I've had this up on DA for a few days now, since FF wouldn't let me post it...three day rule X.x Anyways, read and review, since I didn't get much feedback on DA O.o Apparently, they're not big on fanfiction over there. Especially the ones of Harry Potter sorts xD

Oh yeah. And my DA account is: marauder-girl-16 . deviantart . com (take out spaces X.x).If you wanna see the newest chapter (I'll be putting it there first), or see any of my sorry excuses for art/design, take a peek :D


	2. Guinea Pigs

**Chapter 2 / Guinea Pigs**

"Today's the day!"

"I still can't believe you actually think you'll get away with this."

"Well, damn, Petey, have you seen the instructions to make the stuff? I'm good, but not that good."

James sighed, keeping his eyes closed, all the while listening to Sirius and Peter argue. That's when it hit him. Since when had Sirius been up before he? Nodding off the thought, he spoke, keeping his eyes closed. "I know several girls who might disagree."

Remus nodded in agreement. "I also happen to know those girls who would be horrostruck if their dear Sirius was injured or sick because he just had to take some potion that he had no clue of how it worked."

Peter glared at Sirius. "See? All the more reason for you to not take it, you prat."

"Oho! Look who's talking." Sirius chided as James rolled his eyes and went to get ready. "For your information, Moony happened to fill me in on what happens. It makes you _get lucky_. And I trust him. So unless you want to be the guinea pig, you should really shut your trap."

Peter flinched and nodded, putting his books in his bookbag._ He'd turn me into a guinea pig?_

- . -

"You're really going to go through with this? Awesome. If it works, I'll be sure to grab some." a blonde girl said to Sirius.

"Cai, don't leave me out." her black-haired, blue-eyed friend said, a little too cheerfully.

"I won't, Ash." Caila responded. "Although, we could always have Remus or Stephanie make us some...they're smart enough." she said, looking down the table at the two. Remus was talking to another girl with dark brown hair whose name was Jassandra "Jace" Andrews, while the girl known as Stephanie was reading her Charms book a few seats down.

The three of them were sitting at lunch, poring over a copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_, flipped open to the page that listed how to make a batch of Felix Felicis.

"Yeah, but I imagine the ingredients are hard to find...you'd have to have some pretty sticky fingers in the ingredient cabinet." Ash replied doubtfully.

"Add to that it takes six months to make." Sirius commented, pointing in the book.

"SIX MONTHS!" Ash and Cai both choked. Sirius nodded sadly.

"I know. I'd use it all up before then."

"Oooh." Cai said, mocking interest. "What do you need luck in?"

Ash snorted as Sirius shot daggers at Cai with his eyes. "Nothing you need to care or know about." he said darkly.

"I could use a bit more luck with Lily." James said, sitting down on the other side of Sirius and rubbing the side of his face. "And that's the _last_ time I listen to you, Padfoot."

Sirius looked offended. "How would I know that she didn't change her mind?"

James rolled his eyes. "So, the plan still intact? Are we all ready."

"As we'll ever be."

- . -

Even though it was rather nippy outside (the mid-October winds were biting as hard as ever), it was still very warm in the dungeons. Which of course, was to be expected, when you have fifteen or so students stuck in a room with no windows, boiling potions.

"Okay. I'm set." James whispered over to Sirius. He nodded his head towards some exploding rocks that they had made over the summer. They resembled the Muggle snap-pops that most kids enjoyed throwing during celebrations, but these had a few magical adjustments, that made the explosions bigger, louder, and more than once.

Sirius nodded, keeping an eye on Slughorn. When he was poring over Snape's cauldron, admiring his excellent potionwork, Sirius took that opportunity to head towards the storage room with an empty flask in his hand.

James waited until Sirius was in the room, and he pretended to drop something. On his way down to the floor, he grabbed all the rocks in one hand. Crouching down, he slid them across the room to hit various cauldrons and legs of desks. He jumped back up and continued stirring his concoction nonchalantly while Sirius was helping himself to the Felix Felicis and the rocks started blowing up.

Remus watched the whole scene unfold. He glanced over at James' hands, which were covered in dust. "You might want to rub those off on something, or Slughorn'll know it was you." he pointed out as Sirius came flying back across the room and stuck the flask in his bookbag.

"Thanks, Moony." James muttered, running his hands on the inside of his pockets. He did this for a few minutes as the explosions continued and mayhem ensued. Finally, as calm was being restored--and Cai and Ash were getting over their laughing fit while trying to convince Stephanie and Lily that nothing was wrong with having a bit of fun--James' hands were clean and clear.

No matter how hard the girls had been laughing, Professor Slughorn was not amused. The speech he delivered after all the students turned in their potions an hour later was not a happy one. And, unless Remus was imagining things, he kept his eyes mainly on the Marauders.

- . -

"You think he knew?" Remus asked nervously, as they sat over their homework.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Sirius said smugly, waving the bottle with the gold substance in it. Peter looked on admiringly, hoping to get some for himself.

"So when are you going to drink it?" James asked anxiously. It took the better part of a minute for Sirius to answer.

"When the need arises."

James saw the look in his eyes, and was the only one who noted his best friend's glance at the corner where Ash and Cai were reliving the day's events while Lily was writing her homework and Jace was curled up with a book.

"Still undecided, eh?" James muttered to Sirius.

"Nah. I know which one I want. The problem is, I don't think she wants me. And I don't think I'd mind the other one, but..."

"...she's someone you'd be more likely to settle down with."

"Exactly."

"Well, mate, I know what it's like to be around a girl that you'd kill to have but she'd kill to have you gone. All I'm going to say is, if it works for you, then a week from now, Lily and I will be the House sweethearts."

Sirius chuckled. Oh how a week could change things.

--------

**A/N:** I have PofA on in the bg xD It's at the part where Sirius breaks into the castle...

Anyways...Whoa. I just got an email from FF saying I submitted my story...weird. I'm not watching myself X.x

is confuzzled Anyways...read and review pwease :D I've got three chapters up at once, and I'm working on chapter four as I type this, so enjoy.


	3. Ladies' Man

**Chapter 3 / Ladies' Man**

Sirius turned over for what felt like the fifteenth time that hour. He sat up, running his hand through his damp hair and threw the blankets off of himself. _Doesn't the air conditioning ever work in this bloody place?_ He ripped back the hangings on one side of his bed and a cool breeze greeted him. _Must just be me..._

He looked over at the table beside his bed. There, over two weeks ago, he had sat down the little bottle of Felix Felicis. Currently the moonlight was shining on it, making it look even shinier and more tempting than before.

Wondering what time it was, he stood up and grabbed his wand, then walked to Peter's bedside. "_Lumos!_" he muttered,and glanced at Peter's watch. Swearing, he walked back over to his bed and laid down. _5:30 in the morning?_ he thought angrily as he said "_Nox!_" Why couldn't he get any sleep? This was the third night in a week and a half that this had happened.

That's when he remembered the brief dream he had. Smiling to himself in the dark, and thankful that nobody else could see what he was thinking, he closed his eyes. That's when all the turmoil started up in his head again.

_Damnit. Can't a guy ever think about girls without being distracted?_

Truth was though, the girls were what was _causing_ his problems. Sirius rolled over and stuffed his head in his pillow. First of all, there was the girl he couldn't stop thinking about, the one he had to have. Smiling again, he remembered watching Jace read by the fireplace, watching her in class being one of the successful ones to get the nonverbal spells right (second to James, who had mastered them at the end of fourth year).

He rolled back over, and sighed. But no. No matter how hard he tried, for the past year and a half all she ever hinted at being was friends. Cringing, he remembered how he hated that word.

_Speaking of friends..._

His mind then turned to Ash. The other part of his problems. They had known each other since first year, but he had only been around her alot more the past two years.

_And damn, has she done some growing up._

Granted, she was still fairly enamored with Sirius. And he figured she always would be. But she wasn't so immature about it anymore. And he didn't really mind. She was becoming someone he could talk to, someone who understood him, and could give him advice on girls, no matter how hard it was for her. The fact that she cared so much about him attracted him to her, but on the flip side, Jace was the one he could have more _fun_ with.

_Throw in that spastic fan club, and I've got a mess on my hands._

Sirius turned over on his side, and reached out for the bottle of Felix. He held it in his hand, and noted how warm it felt. _I wonder what it tastes like..._

Yawning, he set it back down. Today was Saturday. There was a Quidditch game against Slytherin that afternoon.

_I think the need has arisen._

--------

"Damnit, Padfoot, get up!"

Sirius felt a pillow hit the back of his head repeatedly, and he slid off the side of his bed where he had been hanging over dangerously for the past three hours. Swearing, he stood up and yanked the pillow from James' grip.

"You know, I was worried about you the other day when you were up before me, but I guess we have you back. It's almost noon. You needed to get up already so you can get ready and get some food in you before the Quidditch match later. That, and I want to run through our plays one more time before the game." James snapped, slightly bitter. He turned and walked out the room, Peter following him, and shrugging at Sirius as if to say "_Don't know what's gotten into him._"

But Sirius knew perfectly well what had gotten into him. This was James' first year as Quidditch Captain. And this first game would either make him or break him. Everyone knew he was extremely talented on the field, which just added more pressure, leaving everyone to wonder if he would be as good a Captain as a Chaser. Add to that the game was against Slytherin, and Lily would be watching, and James might as well have been fighting a dragon for all the stress he was under.

Apparently the stress was taking its toll. At lunch, Sirius noted bitterly that for all the ranting James was doing about the other members of the team not getting enough food for the match, he had made barely a dent on his own plate.

"Prongs, maybe you should stop harping on us about not eating and take your own advice." Sirius scoffed, pointing to James' untouched potatoes and broccoli, and the half-eaten piece of ham.

James stood up. "Sorry if I want to win. Sorry if I'm trying to be a good Captain and HELP OUT MY TEAM." he retorted, storming out of the room.

Peter cringed, while Remus sighed.

"What's gotten into him?" Cai asked, sitting down. Ash and Stephanie sat down next to her, eager to hear what they had missed.

"Just stress." Remus said, poking at the last of his broccoli. "It's the first game of the year, first game for him as Captain, and it's against Slytherin. Could the odds be even worse? He's losing his head, and at this point we'll be lucky to win."

That's when Sirius remembered it. The answer to his problems. "Thanks Moony!" he said excitedly, and ran off out of the Great Hall.

Remus shrugged, seeing the girls' inquiring look.

"Great." Cai groaned. "He'll be a git at practice, then."

"Practice?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah...he called for an emergency practice...says we're not ready, and he wants to run through the plays one more time."

"You guys are ready." Stephanie said. "You've been ready. Your team is flawless. James just needs to calm down."

"Yeah, but the chances of that are slim. Like Remus said, we'd need to be lucky." Cai said doubtfully, and she then dug into the ham.

--------

Five minutes later, Sirius was darting into the boys' dorm. He ran over and fell down on his bed, grabbing the bottle of Felix Felicis.

_Hmmm...I wonder how long this lasts? I should probably only drink half, and see. That way I won't waste any, and if I need some for later, I'll have it._

Sirius tilted his head back and started drinking it. It tasted so good, like sweet honey mixed with ripe, juicy fruit, that he forgot about drinking half and downed the whole flask of it.

For a minute he felt normal, and started wondering if it worked. But then, as soon as he stood up, it hit him like a brick wall. He felt slightly dazed, but more...happy. Like he was having the best day ever and _nothing_ could go wrong.

Smiling mischievously, he grabbed his broom and bat and headed down to the Quidditch Pitch.

--------

James' stomach did a backflip as he heard the crowd two hours later. Three-fourths of the students were currently yelling a loud chant of "GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" Which never used to bother him. But today was different. He was the most nervous he had ever been in his life. This was one of those 'defining moments' everyone talked about.

And it didn't help that his own best friend wasn't even backing him up. Sirius had been acting strangely ever since lunch. He was acting like he had had too much firewhiskey to drink. Well, his logic and wording was messed up anyways. He was otherwise fine, he walked straight, talked normal, flew awesome, and every one of the Bludgers he hit smashed into their target with pinpoint accuracy. He just seemed really...distracted.

_Whatever he's on, he needs to be on it more often._ James thought, standing in the doorway that led to the field. He commanded all of the team to line up. Standing there, waiting for Madam Hooch's whistle, normally the Captain would give an encouraging speech. But James had nothing to say, he was too choked up to speak. Finally, he managed to get out a sentence. "Play like you did at practice today, and we have this match in the bag." he said, to the cheers of the team.

At that moment, the whistle blew, and the team headed out onto the field. The other six members of the team took off once outside, but James walked to the center. He shook hands with Kyle Flint, the Slytherin 7th year Captain. After a minute of what felt like James' fingers being crushed, he mounted his broom. Soon the Quaffle was up, and the game had begun.

And as soon as it had started, to James' suprise, it ended. Thirty glorious minutes of Quidditch. Cai had made some spectacular goals, as had James, and Mark Spinnet. They got the team score up to about 240 when the Snitch was caught. Sirius had knocked out three-fourths of the Slytherin team with Bludgers, and they had to use every reserve player they had. And finally, Maggie Bell had made wonderful use of the Wronski Feint after seeing the Snitch on the opposite side of the field while being tailed by the Slytherin Seeker.

"You did it!" Lily cried, running up and hugging James, as the Gryffindors piled out onto the field, much to Madam Hooch's dismay. She, Ash, Stephanie and Remus led the crowd onto the field, all four screaming for joy at the team's victory. James' stomach did another backflip. He wanted so much to just kiss her right then and there, but seeing a warning look from Ash out of the corner of his eye, and remembering what she had said two months ago ("_James, if you just laid off and let her come to you..._"), he decided against it, and just gave her a quick peck on the cheek. But he was suprised when she returned the favor.

"I'm so proud of you." she said cheerfully, amidst the crowd that had grown to not just celebrating Gryffindors, but now included various Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. "You may still be a prat who likes to annoy me by asking me out, but you've proven today that you can shoulder a decent amount of responsibility. And that shows maturity."

James just grinned like a fool.

---------

The Gryffindors had immediately called for a party. The Marauders spent the afternoon hiking into Hogsmeade to gather supplies, while the rest of the school was getting ready for the Halloween feast. They returned just in time, and stashed all the butterbeer, candy, and firewhiskey that, to the other three's suprise, Sirius had managed to get from the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta had been all too happy to supply him with it, saying that even though he was breaking rules just by being there, and adding on to that the fact that firewhiskey was illegal for anyone not of proper age, Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin deserved a decent celebration.

Everyone acted normal at the feast that night. The Great Hall was garnished with decorations as usual, and Dumbledore gave his typical speech for everyone to have a wonderful Halloween, and he congratulated Gryffindor on their victory (the score ended up 390 to 80).

Finally, it was time for everyone to make their way back to the common rooms. Once there, Sirius told Peter to be the lookout. Groaning about how he was always the lookout, Peter ambled outside to keep the Fat Lady company. That's when Sirius, James, and, against his better judgement, Remus brought out their stash of goodies from hiding.

That's when the party really got started.

It ended up going late into the night. There were several close calls of Peter falling asleep, and a rather drunken Sirius threatening to go wrestle the giant squid. James didn't doubt he could do it, since he had noticed when they were in the boys' dorm that the Felix Felicis was gone. He couldn't help but wonder if that's why he was doing so excellently on the field today, if that's why they were having this celebration at all. Sitting in front of the fireplace, across from Lily, James voiced this thought.

"Are you sure it was gone?" Lily asked doubtfully. She was rather annoyed that Sirius had stolen anything at all, but to add to that the fact that he used it on a Quidditch day...well, she didn't want to think of the consequences just then. "Because if Professor McGonagall finds out about it..."

"We'll be in loads of trouble. I know." James said, sighing. "But she won't find out."

"Well...he did seem to be acting a tad strange." Lily mused. "Normally he's rather cocky, but today he was just downright arrogant. And strangely, extremely happy."

"All the side effects of Felix Felicis." Remus said, appearing behind the couch Lily was sitting on. James shot him a warning glance before speaking.

"I thought you'd be off celebrating this fine victory with Jace."

Remus returned the look. He knew Lily would pick up on something by the way James' tone was, and didn't feel like having her--or anybody--know his feelings yet. _He_ didn't even know his feelings yet, he was still unsure of the gray area that was between he and Jace. "No...she said something about being tired and wanting to think. So I figured I'd give her her space for now."

"How thoughtful." Lily said, glancing at James.

The three stayed in awkward silence for a minute, but that was soon cut by a rather loud cheer coming from the other side of the common room. James stood up to see what all the commotion was about, and when he saw, a sarcastic look came across his face.

--------

Ash was talking animatedly with Cai and Stephanie, reliving the match for the fifth time, play-by-play. They had just reached the part about Cai throwing the Quaffle across half the field to score when all three heard the students making noise. Cai was the first one up, and when she saw what was going on, she turned back to Ash with a slight look of horror on her face. She quickly disguised it with a smile, and muttered something about the stupid students, making commotion over nothing.

Ash raised an eyebrow, knowing someting was up. Apparently, Stephanie did too, as she herself took a look. She turned back and said in a hushed tone: "Caila's right. They're just stirring up trouble."

Now Ash was sure something was wrong. She shot up, confused, and started to head across the room, Cai pulling her one arm and Steph pulling another. "Gerroffme!" she yelled, trying to break free of them. But it didn't matter, she saw what the other students were excited about.

For there, on a table across the room, was Sirius snogging Emmaline Vane rather heavily.

--------

Jace was getting tired, and was staring out the window. _Honestly...I'm glad we won the game, but this is ridiculous, having a party at all hours of the night._ She looked around the room, watching everyone behaving wildly. She was sure it was a matter of time before Professor McGonagall came in, chiding them all for putting up such a ruckus.

Her eyes landed on Remus, who was standing behind the couch that Lily was sitting on. She had become rather fond of him lately, but kept telling herself it was just because they were becoming such great friends.

Although she wasn't entirely convinced that that was the only reason. She was pretty sure she would've fancied him anyways. And Sirius wasn't helping matters any, he kept bugging her lately, acting really immature and stupid around her.

_He acts immature and stupid anyways._ She thought with a grin. She knew he did it to make her laugh, and she was fairly sure that the rumors circulating that he liked her were true. She had even heard James mention it in passing several times during class.

And, she had to admit to herself, that his plan was working a little bit. He did make her laugh, and he did brighten her day, no matter how annoying he seemed while doing it. _It's because he cares._ She constantly reminded herself. And she liked that feeling, knowing that somebody cared about her. But so did Remus. He cared about her too.

She stood up, yawning and stretching. She walked across the room, and was at the foot of the staircase to the girls' dorm when everyone piped up. _All the more reason to go to bed._ She thought, stopping. She tried resisting the urge to turn around and see what was going on, but couldn't.

And for some odd reason, when she saw Sirius on that table with Emmaline, she was mad. She stood, transfixed, at the foot of the stairs, glaring at the scene in front of her, as if the whole House had betrayed her.

--------

Ash felt as if her heart had stopped for a minute. _This can't be right...it's a dream. Yes, that's it. I'm really unconscious. I had too much to drink. It's a DREAM._

_Hell. This is no dream. It's a nightmare._

"LET GO!" she yelled, enraged. Cai and Steph were so shocked at her outburst at them that they did, in fact, let go. Caila realized the mistake in this and went to grab onto her again, so as to keep her from attacking the two, but she didn't reach her in time.

"Leave me alone. Don't worry. I'm not doing anything rash." Ash muttered angrily as the two followed her to the Portrait Hole.

--------

Sirius pulled away from Emmaline and looked up after hearing everyone's hollering. He smiled like an idiot, looking around the room, as if he had just won another trophy. And that's when he saw Ash storming out the room, while Caila and Stephanie were standing in shock.

And then, for the first time that day, he felt sad. He climbed off the table and walked across the room, ignoring the calls from everyone. He walked right out the Portrait Hole, knowing exactly where Ash was headed.

_I am such a bloody idiot._ _But that was fun!_

--------

Remus turned, seeing Jace cross the room, and then turn back around and shoot daggers with her eyes at the room. "I'll be right back." he said to James and Lily, and ran across the room to where Jace was.

She saw him coming though, and made to go up the stairs. But Remus was too fast, and pulled her back. "Come here." he said, grabbing her hand. She frowned, but obeyed, and came down back into the common room. She looked up at Remus sadly, and he looked down at her concernedly.

And for that one second, they really, truly understood each other, as he pulled her into an embrace.

"It'll be fine." Remus said, whispering in her ear. He had no clue why she was a bit upset, but he knew it bothered him that she was.

-------

**A/N:** So I get to chapter three before stupidly realizing I have yet to make a disclaimer. So here it is.

I own none of this. Except the plot. And Ash. She's my character. I wish I owned Sirius though...-stares off into space idly-

Oh, hey, anyways. Yeah. I don't own anything you recognize basically. That's all JKR's work. What an awesome lady. And then Cai belongs to my friend Caila (who'd have guessed? xD), and her pen name on here is Maxie Fonseca. And Stephanie belongs to my other friend, and her name on here is tuttleturtle. Finally, Jace belongs to yet another friend of mine, but she's not on here...but she's on Neopets! padfo0t is her screename, if you ever wanna drop her a line and say what a great character she's created xD

Oh, and aha! A review already! Sweet!

**Sarah Shima**: Yeah. The Marauders are GREAT. I luffs them, especially Sirius. And it's like you said, you can have so much fun with them, because there's no set guidelines. I mean, obviously, Remmy can't be all like, "I think I'll go shank Snivelly today..." but you can have fun with them :D Thanks for the review though, and I shall be continuing this :D You think this one's good, go read "Wake Up, Flower" by Cai (Maxie Fonseca). It's got pretty much the same characters, just a different storyline. I think it's in my fave stories...dunno. But it's funny :D


	4. Thinking of You, And Thinking of Her

**Chapter 4 / Thinking of You...And Thinking of Her**

Ash hoisted herself awkwardly into the tree out by the lake. Normally the task was not a very difficult one, but considering she was tired (it had to be way past midnight by now, it was a miracle she was even able to exit the castle without getting caught) and her vision was currently blurred by the occaisional onslaught of tears, she figured she was doing pretty well for herself.

She had been staring out at the lake for a good fifteen or so minutes when she heard the big oak doors creak open again. Worried that it was McGonagall or Filch inspecting the grounds, she climbed up a bit higher in the tree and hid behind its rather large trunk.

She sat there, crouched behind the trunk for a couple of minutes, before recognizing the person who had intruded upon her thoughts.

_Damn. He just doesn't give up, does he?_

She angrily pulled herself back down onto the lower branch and continued to glare out at the lake.

--------

Jace smiled. Her mind finally caught up with her emotions, and she chided herself for what she had even been considering five minutes ago. Mainly she blamed it on the atmosphere, everyone was going crazy at this party. She also remembered the three butterbeers she had, and although they weren't anything to get her drunk, they did make her feel pretty darn good about herself.

"Thanks Remus." she said, breaking away from him. "You're a great friend, I hope you know that." she finished.

Remus felt a burst of warmth on the inside of him, but he hoped it wasn't showing as much on the outside.

"'Night." Jace said, turning around to walk up the staircase.

"'Night." Remus muttered, and he headed back over to James and Lily. He was happy that she felt better--or at least seemed to. He was sad that she wanted to go so soon.

_Don't blame yourself. She was headed there anyways, what else did you expect?_

To be honest, Remus didn't know what to expect. Half of him was hoping she'd give him a sign or _something_. The other half liked where they were now, just as really good friends.

He stood behind Lily's couch for about six or seven more minutes, the same thoughts tossing through his head as he looked out the window behind James. Neither James nor Lily had even noticed Remus' reappearance, which in itself was a double-edged sword. Having had enough of those for the day, Remus turned around and went over to the staircase that led to the dorms, without another word edgewise.

-------

"Ash, quit acting childish and come down already."

Sirius sighed, leaning against the trunk and staring up at the branch above his head. He knew that she knew he was there. She was just ignoring him, which was usual when she didn't get her way.

"Honestly. You have to learn you can't always get what you want. You don't always have to get your knickers in a bunch about it." He called up to her, wondering why he, of all people, was saying this.

_Speaking of knickers..._Sirius thought, suddenly getting an idea.

"Speaking of knickers, Ash, I can see yours right now. I thought you'd have learned in over five years of being here that you can't sit in this tree with a skirt on."

Hearing a soft giggle from above, he knew his plan worked. And, within seconds, she was leaning backwards over the branch, hanging by her knees.

"You _can't_ see my knickers. I'm not wearing a skirt. If I was, I wouldn't be able to do this."

"Sure you could." Sirius said, shrugging. He climbed up onto the branch next to her, and followed suit, leaning backwards and hanging by his knees. "You'd just be giving everyone a good view. I myself would enjoy it..." he said, chuckling at her expression and feeling her punch his arm playfully. "Now, are we bats all of a sudden? Or do you want to climb down and tell me why you all of a sudden stormed out of the common room like everyone in there was diseased?"

Ash sighed, and pulled herself back up into an upright position on the tree. "Looks like you're the only bat here." she said with a little less enthusiasm, and jumped out of the tree. She leaned up against the trunk and slid down onto the ground.

Sirius let out a huff of air angrily. _Damnit. She always has to go and ruin every bloody thing._ He climbed out of the tree and stood in front of her, blocking her view of the lake. "Ashton Michelle Fitch," he said in an annoyed tone. "Listen to me."

Ash crossed her arms and cast Sirius a dark look, although she knew he meant business. Anybody who used her full name meant business.

"Look--" he started, sitting down next to her. "I don't know what your problem is, but I have a feeling it has to do with Emmaline."

"No, it doesn't." Ash retorted immediately, looking away from him.

"The bloody hell it doesn't!" Sirius yelled. "You can't lie to me. That'd be like, lying to your brother. I know you too well. You saw Emmaline and I on that table and you ran."

Ash continued her fixed stare on one of Hogwarts' highest turrets, before turning back to him.

"Fine. I ran. What the hell do you care? It doesn't bother you."

"If it didn't bother me I wouldn't be out here."

Ash thought about this for a minute, before giving up, realizing she had nothing to argue him with.

"Then why _are_ you out here?" she decided to ask.

"I'm out here because..." Sirius started, but trailed off, thinking. _Is this a trick question? Is she nuts?_ He looked up at the sky, as if the answer would be magically written in the stars. _How am I supposed to answer that, anyways? "Oh, I'm out here because I think I may like you. But I know I really fancy this other girl, who you don't get along too well with. And seeing as how I didn't want to hurt either of your feelings, I decided to go get a third girl and snog her on a table in front of both of you and the whole House." Yeah. Real bloody brilliant._

"Because why?" Ash asked him again.

Sirius turned back to her. _Might as well give her a version of the truth._ "Because I care about you. You're one of my friends, and I don't like seeing my friends upset."

This seemed to satisfy Ash, because she smiled and gave Sirius a hug.

"So why _did_ you pick Emmaline, out of all of us?" she asked, sounding alot happier. "I mean, no offense, she's a nice girl, but I know you never really fancied her. I always thought you'd pick somebody that was, well, a little bit prettier. She's so dull."

"Oh, so now you're insulting my taste in girls, is that it?" Sirius said, laughing. He pushed her playfully before continuing. "So, let's see...how about Mark? What did _you_ see in _him_? Because rumor has it he's a bit _weird_."

Ash looked at him increduously. "I cannot believe you are doing this."

"Believe it." Sirius said, laughing. He jumped up and ran into the castle, Ash trailing him threateningly.

-------

**A/N: **Okay. So this chapter sucks. It's like, your typical fanfiction, all cheesy and chock-full of troubled relationships. This is probably the worst chapter. And I wrote the first part of it in the wee hours in the morning. And I was fighting block the whole time. Because, you see, I'm cursed when it comes to fanfiction. I get to chapter four, I get block. I dunno why -prods notebook with twelve fanfictions, none of which has more than four chapters-. But enough of my lame excuses. I shall keep writing! -imitates Dory- Just keep writing, writing, writing...xD And the reviews have inspired me, so keep them coming :D They're what keeps me going at this point. That, and my lovely assistant and beta-er, Loofah. She has been a great help with ideas xD And forcing me to write with her so I don't get bogged down with -MORE- block. Btw, her Neo screename got messed up when I uploaded this. It's padfo0t, but there's an underscore at the beginning.

Disclaimer: Same as third chapter, anything you recognize, I don't own (JKR is a genius). Ash/Emmalinemine, CaiMaxie Fonseca's, StephTuttleturtle's, JaceLoofah's. Oh, and I suppose I can't fully take credit for even the title of this one...I based it off of a Degrassi commercial, where a girl says "Send someone special a Degrassi greeting card..." and then it goes through all the stuff going on in the new season, and the girl says "Thinking of you...and thinking of him." and then it shows Dylan and Marco and the guy Dylan's cheating on Marco with.

Anyways...

**Sarah Shima: **Yeah, quick update :D I already had the first three chapters on DA, so I didn't need to wait to get them up xD And yes, I have to agree, Sirius is very much so a doofus, but a awesomely funny doofus :D

**x-woman1**: I'm glad you like the story :D Thanks for letting me know, it's great to know I'm not such a crappy writer afterall.

**Alice Dodgson: **Thank you so much dear for the constructive criticism. It's nice to hear people say they like my story, but to get advice is even better :D That's the whole point of this, isn't it? Lol. Yeah, I thought that was cute, having the daydream and reality intertwine. There'll be much more cute moments like that, hopefully. And thanks for pointing out my grammar errors...I'm trying to change them. I'm not the best at grammar and stuff lol, but I try. And I'll have to keep that in mind about Remus. He is acting a bit too goody-goody. It even said in HBP he got detention (I wish we could've seen more of those cards, it would've been interesting to see what kind of trouble they got into).

**NumbahZero:** I take it you like Codename: Kids Next Door? Anyways...no, James didn't get it. Only Sirius stole and drank the potion. And as for the girls...well, I can only defend Ash lol. I just used that name because I've always thought that name was a good name for a girl (damn you, Ashton Kutcher. You're hot, but still.), I dunno, maybe it's 'cause I know more girl Ashtons than guys. That, and it's a fairly British name, so it worked for me xD Glad you like though, and thanks for reviewing :D


	5. Just Another Day In Paradise

**Chapter 5 / Just Another Day In Paradise**

The mornings after parties were never that great. But as morning-afters go, that Sunday had to be one of the worst. Most of the older students spent the day moping around miserably, clutching their stomachs or holding pillows to their heads as if to make themselves feel better by keeping something soft near what caused them pain.

"I will never drink so much in my life again." Sirius groaned, barely audible. He was stretched out on a couch, with a pillow held tightly over his head.

"You said that last time, Padfoot." James pointed out. He was sitting next to Lily, for once she wasn't shooting dark looks his way, and he really didn't seem to mind. He didn't have much of a hangover; he spent most of the night talking to Lily, which kept him from drinking. As long has he avoided the sun, which seemed to shine brighter today. "I doubt you'll stick to your word."

"I have to agree, James." Stephanie's voice came from behind Sirius' head. He sat up and turned to find her and Ash standing there. Stephanie had a tray with a few leftover drinks from the night before, and Ash had her arms crossed, looking at Sirius in a I-told-you-so kind of way.

"Whatdyawant?" He muttered tiredly.

"What's your damage?" Ash asked, pointing to the drinks.

"Erm...those two." Sirius responded, pointing to the butterbeer and the firewhiskey. "More of the firewhiskey, though. At least I'm fairly sure..." he said, scratching his head.

"Well, let's start with this." Ash said, handing him the butterbeer. "You seemed fairly normal last night after your stint with Emmaline, so I doubt you had as much firewhiskey as you think. Even if you did, a little bit of this should fix you right up."

Sirius took a couple of sips from the bottle before handing it back to her and falling back down on the couch. James chuckled at his friend as Ash and Stephanie went and threw the remaining bottles away.

"You know, I'm suprised she doesn't hate you right now." James commented, as if he were shooting the breeze.

"Who? Ash?" Sirius asked, peeking out from under his pillow.

"No, Stephanie." James said sarcastically.

"Why would she hate me?"

"Forget it. You need your rest." James said, standing up. "I have a feeling even that Felix Felicis wouldn't help you now. It's too bad you went and drank it all yesterday. Although I must congratulate you on knocking out three-fourths of the Slytherin team and getting us a victory."

And that's when everything hit Sirius like a brick wall.

_Oh dear God. Help me._

--------

Sunday had dragged on for what seemed like ages. And because most of the Gryffindors had nothing to do, or felt like doing nothing, they ended up spending the afternoon and evening gossiping about the night before. By the end of the day, the rumors were rampant. The wildest one mentioned was that Ash and Sirius had been secretly dating for the past few months (hence why they'd been spending more time together) and that she had gone off and cheated on him with her ex-boyfriend Mark, who apparently she was still in love with. Then, according to the rumor, Sirius found out about it when he heard him talking in the locker room after the Quidditch match, so to get back at her he made out with Emmaline at the party.

"Is what they're saying true?" Caila asked her friend that night, as the girls sat around in the dorm before drifting off to sleep.

"Of course not!" Ash retorted, throwing a pillow at Cai. "Why would I date that prat?"

"Which one?" Stephanie asked, doubtfully.

"Um..." Ash said, furrowing her eyebrows. What kind of question is that? "Neither, I suppose."

Stephanie snorted. "Yeah. Okay. If you say so."

Ash looked at her, bewildered. "What, you don't believe me?"

"No. I don't."

"Gosh. What great friends I have." Ash scoffed, laying back on her bed. "Glad to see at least you guys can trust me." she snapped, and yanked the hangings shut.

--------

If any of them thought Sunday was bad, they did not see Monday coming along. Emmaline had spent the entire day Sunday in either in her bed or in the bathroom. So she knew nothing of the rumors. And her friends didn't have the heart to tell her. She had skipped breakfast that morning, getting up at the last second. So by lunchtime, the whole school knew what had happened and the theories behind it. She was not expecting the Great Hall to go from loud, cheerful talking to a dull whisper when she walked in.

"I think I'm going to go crazy with all of this." Emmaline muttered to her best friend Chasity. "Honestly, it's like everyone's walking on eggshells around me, and I really don't get why."

"They're, uh," Chasity started, nervously twirling her blonde ponytail. "They're just…jealous. Yeah, just jealous." She stated, offering her friend a not-so-reassuring smile and shrug.

Emmaline shrugged in return and took her seat at the Gryffindor table with Chasity. A few of their friends came running, and soon the group was chatting animatedly while Emmaline happily ignored several glares she received.

-----

"Look at her."

"How can she be so happy?"

"Especially after everything they're saying about her. At least she's not being known as the school slut, though."

"But you didn't do anything wrong, Ash, that's what sucks."

"This is why I don't bother with rumors and such. Too much drama for me."

Stephanie, Ash, and Caila were sitting around their lunches, several feet down the table from Emmaline and her group. Stephanie had been glued to her book and occaisionally offering bits of advice while Caila had been descriptively telling Ash ways that she could show Emmaline her true feelings.

"Honestly, she's the root of all your problems. If she hadn't done what she did—"

"—I would have." Ash cut Caila off.

"No you wouldn't have. You have dignity. Besides, she was wasted. You weren't."

"Whatever. Can we just drop it."

The three sat in silence for another few minutes when James came in, followed by a reluctant, albeit happy, Lily.

"I'm happy Lily's finally seeing the good side of James." Caila said, watching the two sit way down the table from them, where Remus was seated.

Stephanie set down her book; shutting it. "Apparently you're not the only one." She commented, nodding her head indicatively toward James.

The other two nodded. "She's so lucky and I'm not sure she realizes how much." Ash commented, and all three sighed, each drifting off into their own daydreams.

"You three feeling okay?" A voice came from behind them a few minutes later. Stephanie jumped, Caila whipped around violently, and Ash nodded, still entranced, before recognizing the voice.

"Feeling better, are we?" she said, meeting Sirius' eyes.

"Well, of course…" he replied. "The party was two days ago."

"Right." Ash said, laughing nervously. "See, it's just that normally you try and miss the first two or so days of the week."

"Good observation."

The three girls at the table turned to see who else had joined them. Their curious expressions melted into shocked ones as Jace walked toward them. Once she reached Sirius, she gave him a hug, then stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. He put his arm around her and smiled, looking back at the other three proudly. They didn't share his enthusiasm; however, and currently looked like they had been stunned.

"I've gotta go." Stephanie said after a minute, the first to speak. As she jumped up, Caila joined her.

"Yeah, me too." She said.

"Have fun!" Stephanie said, and Caila flashed a bright smile, then they ran out of the Hall.

Ash watched them go, in shock.

"So, um," she stammered as the two sat down.

The three sat in silence, except for a few awkward comments between Sirius and Jace. Ash, who had been pretending to study, eventually slammed her book shut and threw her stuff in her bag before running off, muttering something about the library being quieter. Once out of the Hall, though, she made her way not to the library but the Gryffindor common room.

-----

Remus, who was sitting several feet away with James and Lily, watched her run out of the room. He leaned over towards James. "What d'you think that was all about?" he muttered, as Lily turned to talk to Casey.

"What?" James replied.

"Ash running off just now. She looked like she was about to cry and ready to attack Jace."

"Oh, she's probably just jealous. You know how she gets."

"I dunno…" Remus muttered, more to himself rather than to James, who had turned back to Lily. He couldn't just blow that off quite like James could; then again, he had always been known as the caring one. He stood up, gathering his things, and left the Hall after Ash.

-----

_You are an idiot. A complete and total idiot._

"No way. How was I supposed to know he was going to go after her?"

_Only because he's been staring at her for the past two years._

Ash groaned, banging her head repetitively against the open Potions book that was laying on the table in front of her. She stopped, though, when she heard the Fat Lady's portrait swinging open and someone walk in.

_Damnit. I came in the common room for peace and quiet…_

Fuming, and about ready to tell off whoever it was, she swung around as she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She came face-to-face with Remus, who was currently kneeling on the floor next to her chair.

"Hey." He said, offering Ash a small half-smile. "You okay?"

"Heh. Never been better." She said sourly, turning away.

"I know what you mean." Remus replied, standing up and pulling a chair next to her. "Look, you can't let everything Sirius does get to you. Sometimes you have to just stand back and let him screw up."

"So you think that's what this is about?" Ash said, choking up slightly.

"Well…I know it's not about the Potions exam next hour," Remus joked, shutting her book.

"Touché," she said, facing him with a smile and watery eyes.

"Don't cry." Remus said sadly, wiping her eyes. "It really doesn't suit you. You're much better smiling. Besides, I hate when people cry. I feel like a failure because I can't make them happy."

Ash smiled briefly, but felt her eyes well up again and she turned away. "You should probably go, then," she muttered. "I've been bottling this up for a while, and I don't want to drag you down with me."

Remus frowned, and turned her around, pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, really." He said, stroking her hair. He tried ignoring a small feeling he got in his stomach, and continued. "Look, you should just give up on Sirius. At least for now. You're sweet, and funny, and you deserve someone else much better than him. You don't need to be wasting your time and emotions on him, when he's only going to lead you on and make you feel bad." Remus said, pushing Ash back away from him and looking at her, his hands still on her shoulders. She nodded, but looked down.

"It's not that easy, though. I wish it was. I mean, how do you give up somebody you lo—" Ash started, but Remus cut her off.

"Nobody ever said it would be," he said, pulling her chin up with his right hand. He looked at her sadly, and she stared into his eyes. He had seen that expression before…seen those same hurt eyes, only recently. "Look...it'll take time, but I'm sure this will all blow over."

_I highly doubt that._ Ash thought, sending Remus a momentarily dark look.

"But then again, I could be wrong." Remus continued, leaning back some in his chair. "Maybe...maybe Sirius'll grow up and actually start caring about other peoples' feelings besides his own. I'd just hate to see what it'd take for him to do that." he said, glaring out the window as he became quiet for a few minutes. He turned back to Ash and leaned forward again, pulling her into a hug. "What I'm trying to say is, don't wait around for him. Don't completely give up on him, because he really _does_ care about you, it's just right now he's being horomonal maniac and going after what he wants at the moment, not what he'd want in the long run."

Ash smiled, closing her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Remus." she said quietly.

-----

Lily sighed, leaning her head on James' shoulder. She smiled brightly, having just laughed at a rather funny joke he had just told.

_What is coming over me?_ She thought strangely. _These past few days have been weird. Not only have I not been annoyed by James' lame attempts to get me to date him, but I'm actually enjoying spending time with him._

She turned and looked at him, and he pulled her into a side hug, before going back to his food. _Of course, he's changed, too. He's acting so much more mature. He hasn't messed with Snape in weeks…actually, it's been about two months now, because he tortured him with that hideous makeover at the Welcome Feast. But that's been it. And he hasn't partied heavily, either. He's actually been more responsible…maybe him being Head Boy was a good idea after all. Maybe I'm just reacting to his change._

Lily cringed as the next thought entered her head. _Maybe…maybe I actually fancy Potter… _

And maybe that's not such a bad thing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N**: So I imagine, right now you're going "What the-? What just happened?" I swear it'll all work out. Some stuff may seem random and needing explanation, and I will provide the answers :D I'm already almost three pages into Chapter 6 ("Holiday") so rest assured you will not be confused for much longer xD

But yeah...on a side note, this has been up on deviantART since like, the end of August Oo I kinda forgot to update here (being so busy with school and all). So, as I've said before, if you wanna read the latest stuff, you're better off looking at dA. My screename there is marauder-girl-16.

Annnnd, what else? Oh, I've decided to stop doing the review replies stuff thingies at the end. Unless you've got a question or something, then I'll answer it. But I started noticing I was saying the same stuff over and over again. So I'll take this moment to give everyone reading this a great big THANKS xD

And I'd love it if you reviewed...I mean, it's not _required_, but it'd be great. Especially considering this story has gotten almost 600 hits and only 11 reviews Oo I mean, I know I'm not the greatest writer, but really...

And I've also recently noticed while writing Chapter 6 that I've strayed a slight bit away from the whole "Felix" bit, and I promise there'll be more lucky days in store for our favorite foursome xD I just didn't want to write about _that_ though, I kinda have been itching to write about life in general.

Anyways..this thing's long and huge now Oo Just so you know, I won't be updating as much (obviously) because of school, but I promise to try and not leave you hanging dry like I just did (sorry guys!).


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